


Mischief & Manners

by A_Song_of_Quill_and_Feather



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Hogwarts Era, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:46:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24245239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Song_of_Quill_and_Feather/pseuds/A_Song_of_Quill_and_Feather
Summary: Cassiopeia Malfoy grew up with the expectations of Pureblood society dictating where her future will end up; someday she'll marry a pureblood wizard and have pureblood children. She won't become a healer, and she certainly won't be friends with blood-traitors like the Weasley Twins. But, she supposes while she's at Hogwarts she can do as she pleases and pretend for just a bit.
Relationships: George Weasley/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 26





	1. Friendship Beginnings

Cassiopeia Malfoy can be rather patient she believes. She can tolerate her brothers snottiness, her father's distance, and her mother's smothering for hours. She can deal with jerks who look at her Ravenclaw colors and treat her like some kind of nerdy know-it-all and she can deal the Slytherins who she'd grown up around teasing her on her lack of following family standards in house sorting.

But she was absolutely done with being in the crossfire of those two Weasley twins's pranks.

Whether it was a frozen hallway in the dungeons that made her path to potions treacherous. Or releasing all the owls to send joke notes thus preventing her from easily replying to her mother's letters. Or any number of stink bombs and exploding treats. She was quite over how often it interfered with her own day-to-day.

Now, she would be able to recognize the hilarity and ingenuity of many of their pranks, if she weren't currently covered with whipped cream that came from the exploding pastries that were waiting on everyones plates at breakfast.

So, after cleaning herself of the mess they'd made of her, Cassiopeia goes to find the two red-headed devils in question.

She discovers them in a small alcove, clearly joking between themselves and stirring some substance in a cauldron that Cass studies quietly before clearing her throat and glaring her most threatening glare at the pair of them. "The two of you believe yourselves quite clever don't you?"

"Clever?" One of them asked, a smile clear upon his face.

"Nah, not clever," the other said, a duplicate smile on his face.

"Genius sounds better," the first nods as though in consideration, "don't it, George?"

"Oh definitely," the other, George, agrees. "Quite better, Fred."

"I don't care whether it's clever or _genius_ , or just plain stupid," Cass cuts in, "I want the pair of you to stop with it around me."

"Well that wouldn't be any fun," the one called Fred frowns though he still has that smiling twinkle to his eyes.

"We quite like pranking, why should we stop?"

"You don't have to stop your stupid jokes," Cass relents, "just prank everyone but me. I couldn't care less about you messing about with the rest of the school."

Fred laughs while George studies her, "well why should we keep you out of the fun?"

"Doesn't seem quite fair for the rest."

She plasters a brilliant smile upon her face. The one a girl raised in high pureblood society could master that held a perfect mix of charming and threatening. "Because if I have to clean whipped cream from my robes one more time, then the pair of you will be spending the rest of the year with Madam Pomfrey hexed beyond belief."

The twins glance between each other before Fred speaks, "well who said we're scared of you?"

"Yeah, we've got no reason to be."

"I could certainly give you one." She produces her wand and taps it lightly against her palm, "would you like to take that chance?"

"Wait…" Fred studies her, leaning back and looking rather relaxed despite the wand threatening his direction, "you're the Malfoy girl, the one who hexed Warrington the first month right?"

"Bloody he was in the infirmary two weeks that time," George, looking just slightly less relaxed than his twin, peered at her again. The pair of them both held an equal level of awe and alarm to their eyes, mixed under the twinkle bit of mischief that seems to be ever-present.

"Sure you weren't sorted wrong, Malfoy?" Fred asks.

"Curses like that," George clicks his tongue, "and threatening us now."

" _Very_ Slytherin." Fred finishes.

She rolls her eyes, "yes, well I am a Malfoy, even if I am a Ravenclaw as well, and there is a reason most Malfoy's are Slytherins, shared traits and all that." She continues to glare, "so, will you leave me out of any targeted pranks from now on or would you like to be like Cassius?" Fred and George looked at each other, and Cassiopeia got the intense feeling that they were likely conversing entirely with just their looks and she wondered if that was from pure closeness or some twin thing they shared.

Finally the pair of red-heads turned back to her and smiled before nodding, "fair enough."

"We don't really fancy spending precious time in the infirmary—"

"We spend enough precious time in detention—"

"Time that could be better spent working on the next thing—"

"So we'll do our best to not aim for you—"

"Though if a prank or two end up your direction—

"Well it's bound to happen—"

"But you have our word—"

"A trustworthy thing we swear—"

"That we'll leave you out best we can."

Cass glanced between the two of them a moment, disoriented at first by their back and forth that worked almost like it was one person speaking rather than two, before deciding that this was the best promise she'd get that they'd leave her be. So, after her moment of consideration, she gives them a nod and returns her wand to her robes.

She turns to leave but before she does she takes one more quick glance at their potion and notes, "stir the other way, fifteen times and then once the other way round." She peers a second longer, "and add two rose petals, it'll intensify the smell." And with that she leaves them glancing between themselves and the potion.

* * *

A week and one stunk-up hallway outside the Slytherin common room later the twins found their way out to the black lake fresh from detention— for said stunk-up hallway— and plop themselves down on either side of Cassiopeia on the grass where she flips through an old copy of _Northanger Abbey_. Quickly the pair of them strike up conversation about the potion that had landed them in detention and how her advice had improved upon it. They applauded her apparent brilliance and joked about the looks upon Warrington's and Bletchley's— "rather fitting name that one with the way he wretched" George remarks laughing— faces when they exited into the fumes.

By the end of the conversation they've garnered her help in their next endeavor.

And by the end of Cassiopeia's first year she's found herself in more detentions than she'd ever have wanted to be in. But even so she can't find herself caring when she's ending up there with Fred and George Weasley on either side of her.


	2. A New Year

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cassiopeia Malfoy arrives for her third year at Hogwarts.

Platform nine-and-three-quarters was bustling with students and families including that of the Malfoy’s stood near one of the train compartments while two of their house elves loaded the trunks upon it. Lucius Malfoy stood tall and proud as he was always want to do while looking over his children who were currently being fussed about by their mother.

“He’s going to Hogwarts for the first time not leaving the country, mother,” Cassiopeia Malfoy states as she watched her mother smooth down Draco’s robes for the seventh time since they’d arrived.

“The first year is always quite important,” Narcissa remarked to her daughter, “he’ll get his sorting and discover his interests and make his friends.”

“Yes, and he’ll be just fine through it all, even if his robes are uneven.”

“They’re not uneven,” Draco remarked, but Cass smirked a bit as he straightened them further.

“And speaking of friends,” Cass straightens up from where she’d been leaning against the cart, “I wish to see mine, so I’ll just be heading along.” She starts to move but is stopped by her mother’s hand on her.

“Hold on darling,” Narcissa smooths a bit of blonde hair down on the top of Cass’s hair, “now, I expect you to keep an eye out for your brother, even though he’ll be in Slytherin.”

“Who knows, maybe he’ll be a Gryffindor?” Cass jested, though she knew quite well it was entirely unlikely for her brother to be anything but Slytherin like their parents. She’d been the odd man out of their family in that department, and she just didn’t see Draco following her in that direction. “Or, heaven’s forbid, a Hufflepuff.” She jokes further, recalling her brother making some comment to some other kid in Madame Malkins about how he’d rather leave than be in that house.

Draco, as she expected, screwed up his face and glared at her in his familiarly petulant way, “do not even joke about that Peia.” Cass’s only response was to grin wider.

“Cassiopeia,” her mother’s voice warned, “we can trust you to keep an eye on your brother, correct? And to set a good example for him?”

“Of course, mother,” Cass said only slightly exasperated. It was a conversation they’d had almost all summer, the importance of setting a proper example. Or, as she’d learnt, a reminder to be a proper lady of her status. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t cause any trouble.”

“Good.” Narcissa patted Cass’s arm a bit. “Your father and I also expect to not hear anymore about detentions or get letters regarding any issues with your behavior.” Cass frowned just slightly more at this.

“Well, there goes all my plans for fun,” She remarks, but spots two familiar flashes of red hair down the line and so a smile begins to pull at her lips.

“Cassiopeia,” her father now, looking down upon her with his ever familiar look of seriousness. She settled her own face into a similar level of stoniness to match.

Her mother continued, now with Lucius’s stare emphasizing the importance. “We can overlook your decision to befriend those two _Weasley_ boys for the time being,” Cass had to resist the urge to roll her eyes at her mothers tone of distaste in regards to another conversation they’d had plenty over the last few years. “So long as it does not get in the way of your education and you stay out of any troublemaking they get into. Understood?”

A whistle sounded, and she spots once again between her parents the two familiar red-headed figures of contention clambering onto the train with a third smaller in tow. “Of course, I promise to be on my best behavior when it comes to my dirty blood-traitor friends.” She leans up and kisses both her parents carefully on the cheeks before stepping up the first step into the train. Before she disappears within though she smiles widely at both her parents and adds, “or at least, I promise to not get caught.”

She rushes within before more reprimanding can reach her and heads down the crowded train looking for the two trouble-making twins that her parents loathe so much.

She pauses a bit down the way, glancing back to see Draco searching out his own compartment but decides he’s well off enough to handle himself here without her supervision. She knows he’ll likely seek out Pansy Parkinson or Theodore Nott to sit with and so she is under no real obligation in this situation to look out for her brother right at this moment.

She spots the twins down the way, their red hair making it rather easy to catch sight of them even in crowded spaces like the walkway along the train compartments. She slips her way past students, waving at Lee Jordan, Alicia Spinnet, and Angelina Johnson where they sat in a compartment, Lee holding a box in his hands that he and Angelina were apparently enraptured with.

She was nearly at the other end of the train when Fred and George seemed to spot her after shutting a compartment door. George calls out, “Oi! If it isn’t our favorite Malfoy!”

“You’ve never actually met another Malfoy,” she points out as Fred sweeps her up before settling her back, an arm around her shoulder while the other goes about Georges.

“And I hope we never do, I hear from my father they’re all bloody prats.” Fred jokes as they make their way back in the direction of Lee and Angelina’s compartment.

“Well I’m afraid my brother has finally arrived here,” she bemoans, “so you’ll be forced to at least occasionally spot him in your peripherals.”

“Shame that is,” Fred shakes his head.

“Suppose we’ll have to deal with it by pranking him especially.” George finishes with a wicked grin on his face.

“Well I suppose since its inconveniencing you so.” Cass rolls her eyes at them as they walk.

“We did just meet someone more interesting than your brother,” George states.

“You’ll never bloody guess who.”

Cass smirks, pondering it a second before stating, “Harry Potter.”

The twins exclaim, “gah, how’d you know?”

“Because it’s well enough known that he’d be attending this year, considering the timing of it all.” She laughs a bit, “plus, my father told Draco to try and befriend him. My parents are never shy about their belief that friends are only good when it comes to raising social status and gaining opportunities.”

“They must love us then,” Fred smirks.

“Oh you know it, they just love that I’ve made friends with two ‘blood-traitor spawns’.” They slow as they near the compartment, “they certainly haven’t told me of any disapproval and they certainly don’t blame the pair of you for my many detentions the last two years.”

“I resent the accusation that we get you into trouble,” George states, pulling open the compartment door.

“It’s you just as frequently as its us.”

“Though speaking of trouble our dearest mother gave us a brilliant idea for the first prank of the year involving exploding toilet seats.”

“Now now,” Cass laughs as she plops onto the seat closest to the window, George settling beside her and Fred beside him. “My little brother is here now and I’m supposed to set a good example for him.”

“Good luck with that,” Angelina laughs, the others easily joining into the conversation, “you rarely say no to helping the twins.”

“That’s fair,” Cass sighs, “though I do say no plenty, when what they’re asking for help with is stupid.”

“Which is most of it,” Alicia remarks laughing.

“But I did promise my parents to stay out of trouble this year.” She says it in a rather exaggerated bemoaning way.

“Well that’s no fun,” Fred remarks.

“Why would you do a daft thing like that?” George inquires.

“Well, I added the caveat that I would not get caught for any trouble caused.” She pats George gently on the arm, “so no worries, I’ll help you plenty. Just moving to a position as a silent partner.”

“When’ve you ever been silent?” Fred laughs, Cass reaches across George to swat at Fred but he dodges back a bit laughing harder.

“Especially when it comes to the twins doing something dangerously stupid.” Lee adds.

“Enough about all that,” George waves a hand, “now Lee we heard something about a giant tarantula?”

They all lean forward as Lee lifts the lid to the box and laugh as Alicia shrieks when the thing leaps forth. The sound of laughter continuing the rest of the ride to Hogwarts.

* * *

Its of no surprise when Cassiopeia watches her brother get sorted into Slytherin almost immediately. The hat barely touching his head before shouting out Slytherin.

From her spot at the Ravenclaw table sat next to her housemate Sadie Michaels, Cass watches her brother wander rather smugly to the table at the end where the Slytherin house was. She could recall her own sorting rather well, the hat had taken quite a bit longer with her than Draco in comparison. Talking to her and itself over the apparently interesting conundrum it faced considering her families history in sortings and her own differences.

She’d considered asking it to sort her like her family at the time, and of course it had heard that train of thought in her mind and inquired if she truly wanted that. Then the thought of her collection of muggle books that her parents would most certainly disapprove of crossed her mind and before she could truly ask one way or the other the hat was shouting “RAVENCLAW” and she was sent along to a table of blue and bronze.

She hadn’t actually minded it so much as she would have expected. Obviously her parents had been disappointed, however veiled they were about that fact in their letters. But she actually liked Ravenclaw, she enjoyed the private library they had in the common room (as it was a good mix of magic and muggle based books all donated by students) and she enjoyed her housemates well enough even if at the start some had seemed more than wary about her.

It had caused more of a stir with others than it had with her in the end. And most got rather used to the Malfoy in Ravenclaw rather quick, and those who deigned to tease her on it (mostly Slytherin’s in her year that she’d grown up around) had learned quickly that she had little tolerance for such behavior towards her.

Now, three years in, no one blinked much of an eye in her direction regarding the colors of her robes.

The rest of the sorting goes by rather quick for her, she notes Harry Potter’s sorting into Gryffindor with little surprise (both his parents were in that house and he is the boy-who-lived, it seemed fitting that such a ’heroic’ figure to the wizarding world would end up in the house that prided itself on heroics). She rolled her eyes at the twins repeated shouting of “We got Potter!”

She was similarly unsurprised when the twins’s younger brother Ronald was declared Gryffindor like the rest of his family.

Dumbledore did his speech and dinner arrived and Cass was quite happy to be back amongst her fellow students. She fell into easy conversation with her fellow Ravenclaws around her. The lot of them discussing experiments done over the summer and new interests that have captivated them all. For Cassiopeia she sat discussing a book of the muggle Shakespeare’s plays that both Sadie and her had read over the summer.

Sadie had procured the book for Cass early on during the holiday and sent it to her. Believing she’d enjoy the gift, which she had quite dearly. Sadie, being muggleborn, had easily become Cassiopeia’s best way of receiving muggle fiction works that she otherwise was unable to find herself. Books that she kept hidden away in her room at Malfoy Manor so as not to have her parents discover them, as they’d likely get rid of them.

It was a bit of rebellion against her parents that, unlike her friendship with Fred and George, she preferred to keep entirely hidden from them.

The only member of her family who knows of her hidden stash of muggle books is Draco, who’d spotted her making her hidden compartment in her closet the summer before her own first year at Hogwarts. He’d been rather confused when he first saw the books, but once he’d realized what they were he’d ran off to find one of their parents resulting in her having to chase him down and tackle him. He’d tried hard to shake her off but Cassiopeia had been far more motivated in dragging him back to her room and forcing him to keep it a secret for her.

To her surprise he’d done so, despite plenty of moments where they were fighting or annoyed with one another where he could have disclosed the information to get back at her. Though he would on occasion still let her know his own distaste of her interest in muggle books he never told their parents.

She wonders sometimes where she’d be if she hadn’t met the muggle girl Maggie when she was nine and discovered muggle fiction to be the most enticing thing she’d read in her short life.

Most likely as insufferably close-minded as her parents and brother and sat amongst green and silver instead of blue and bronze. Certainly not friends with people like Sadie, or Angelina and Alicia and Lee, and definitely not best mates with Fred and George.

Dumbledore leads the students in a— rather beautifully— disjointed singing of the school song. Cassiopeia couldn’t help the grin to her face as the the twins were the last to be singing in their solemnly hilarious funeral march pace, making her know that she would hate to have gone down any other path in life that differed from where she was now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	3. Ventures in Business

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cassiopeia ventures into a business opportunity with the twins during her third year at Hogwarts.

A month into the school year Cassiopeia finds the twins clustered outdoors together over a cauldron mixing it while muttering about some new development. She drops her book bag onto the grass and plops down across from them. She peers into the cauldron a second before snatching the notes that George had been scribbling on about whatever concoction they're making.

"Well hello to you too, Cass," Fred greets with a cheerful tone.

"Very polite of yeh," George adds, frowning though it was hardly a serious frown, "I thought you high-brow Pureblood folk were taught manners."

She rolls her eyes but continues reading over their work while saying, "well I figured considering the pair of you are from a family of blood-traitors I can drop the prim society training while with you two."

"Ah now that won't do—"

"— Not at all. We expect to be treated—"

"— Like the proper pureblood gentlemen we are."

Cass smiles and simply shakes her head at them, well used to their quipping back and forth by now that she hardly blinks an eye where others are often disoriented by the twins quick tendency to speak as thought they were one person instead of two.

"You two are trying to make your own hiccough sweets?" She reaches over to George and swipes his quill before scribbling out a piece of their recipe and rewriting it with something better.

"That we are," Fred leans back, not offended by Cassiopeia's overtaking of their notes. He simply smirks as George crosses his own arms and leans forward to see what she's 'fixing' about his work.

"Want to start selling them around the school, make some change from our fellow students between Hogsmeade trips." Cassiopeia nods at that and sets the parchment down before turning her attention more fully to the cooking cauldron.

"Plus if we can make them ourselves that means we don't need to buy them from Zonkos."

"We can swipe the ingredients from the potion room."

"And you'll have Professor Snape giving you detention every time the stocks off." She shakes her head, "give me a cut of the profits and I'll buy your ingredients."

"How would you be getting them?"

"I'll tell my parents its for extra-curricular studies." She shrugs and shifts through her book bag until she pulls out a small jar with flitterby wings within it. She pulls two out and crushes them while speaking, "I already have them buy me different ingredients for my own studies, I would just add the things we need for this."

Fred chuckles and George remarks, "what happened to staying out of trouble this year."

"As I said on the train, a silent partnership." She smirks, sprinkling the crushed wings into the potion and stirring it a few times clock-wise. "I'm afraid I enjoy the pair of you too much to simply not get involved. And some spare change wouldn't hurt my pockets either."

"Ah get off it, you're rich what'd'you need to be earning money for." She throws a frown at Fred, while she pulls out another little vial from her bag, this time some butterscotch flavoring that she puts a good portion of into the cauldron.

"I would like to have at least a bit of money that's my own," she tells him, "if only for my pride."

"Prideful being you are."

"Very," She meets Freds look. "I'm not asking for much. Just 25% of what you earn."

"Ha!" Fred shakes his head.

"5%." George states.

"20." She counters looking to him now, a smile playing on both their faces despite the apparently serious bartering.

"10." Fred then offers.

"15, as low as I'll go." She holds out a hand to each of them.

The twins share a look, a wide grin spreading over each of their faces before they nod and take her hands. "Pleasure to enter business with you, Malfoy."

"And with you, Weasley's." She laughs a bit, "now, I have to be off to Ancient Runes." She stands, brushing some of the stray grass from her skirt. "Get that into some molds before too long, leave it to stew too much and it won't have the proper affect."

"Maybe the new one will be better," George shrugs.

"Things to think on." Fred adds with a nod.

"Just get it into a mold, you're selling hiccough sweets not your own crazed invention." She picks up her bag and starts off, walking backwards so she faces them. "See you both about. Do try to stay out of trouble!"

* * *

The hiccough treats did spectacularly well for the twins between Hogsmeade trips. They also did spectacularly well at not getting caught selling them so far. A worry that had pressed more on Cassiopeia's mind than on either of the twins. She knew well enough why it didn't faze them, they had that map they'd shown her in passing that let them see where people were within the castle. Thus they had no issue in avoiding Filch or any other adult who would punish them for their enterprising.

The three were celebrating this adventure in business sat in Hogsmeade the weekend after Halloween with some butterbeer and a good purse of money to later go buy sweets and new things to try and replicate for selling.

"So your brother actually fought a troll?" She questions, sipping at her mug and wiping away the foam that sticks to her lip.

"Supposedly," Fred remarks with a shrug.

"Who knows if he's having a laugh and just saying he did."

"But he got the points for it."

"Alongside Harry and that girl Hermione."

"Insane," Cass shakes her head. "How do you think it got in?"

"No clue," George shrugs, "maybe someone let it in."

"Was hilarious though," Fred smirked, "seeing Quirrell sprinting in in his panic."

Cass rolled her eyes, "I'm still on the fence as to whether he's better or worse than our previous defense teachers."

Both the twins consider it, heads tilted as they think. "At times better—"

"At times worse."

The three shrug and soon make their way to Honeydukes to scour for some merchandise, having already gotten some various items from Zonkos Joke shop earlier.

"Shock-o-choc?" Fred inquires, lifting the box of chocolates and turning it about.

"Could make it more shocking." George responds.

"I'm assuming the pair of your are all about making some Acid-Pops?" Cass comes about the corner.

"Of course," the twins agree together.

"Burnt a hole through Ron's tongue once with one of those."

"We'll have to be careful with the recipe, don't want to make it too… burning."

"Pssh." Fred dismisses, "that's part of the fun Cass!"

She rolls her eyes and grabs a box of the lollipops. "How much are you two wanting to make?"

"Millions of galleons if we can."

"I mean in terms of products, how big do you want your catalogue to be?" She settles between the two.

They consider it, "big enough so we have variety."

"We'll have to be more careful then, when selling and making them." She taps a finger against the boxes in her hand. "I mean, an influx of hiccough treats between Hogsmeade trips isn't enough to alarm the teachers that it's being sold in the halls. But a sudden increase in other joke sweets and items will be."

"What are you suggesting?" George asks.

"I don't know," Cass sighs, "but it's something we'll have to figure it out. I meant it when I said I can't be getting in too much trouble. So we'll have to figure out a more sure-fire way to avoid getting caught than just a magic map."

"Ye of little faith, Malfoy," Fred pats her shoulder. "With our three brilliant minds we'll figure it out."

She eyes him a second before sighing and nodding. The three then continue with their shopping before making their way back up to the castle, a bit of early snow beginning to fall upon them as they near the school.

* * *

"Where exactly is it you're dragging me to?" Cassiopeia questions as George leads her along with his arm hooked in hers. He'd ambushed her when she got out of potions for the day and with little explanation started dragging her along. "Where's Fred?"

"Can't stand to spend time with just me, can you Cass?" George jokes which Cass rolls her eyes at.

"If anything it's the other way around, I think I can count on one hand the amount of times I've hung about only one of you without the other nearby." She follows him up another set of moving staircases.

"Fair enough," George shrugs, "But don't you worry, he's where we're heading."

"Which is where exactly?" She repeats her questioning.

"Shush, patience is a virtue you know."

"And you are trying it," she states though she doesn't truly mean it. She's more than used to the twins dragging her to mysterious locations. The twins know more secrets of the castle than most, and it's almost always interesting enough to put up with their incessant need for everything to be a surprise.

Which, George knows well enough as he smirks and remarks, "nah, you'll never get sick of us."

"You never know."

He stops them outside a door on the seventh floor and smiles wider, "nah, cause the end result is always worth the torture of waiting."

She eyes him skeptically before sighing and motioning for him to continue. He does, throwing open the door and motioning her within.

She walks within and pauses, eyeing the space with a raised brow before looking to George with exasperation. "You dragged me about the castle, for a bathroom?"

A rather out of use bathroom, that looks like it was being repaired before it was abandoned. If she was honest she hadn't even known the room was here.

"We need to work on your imagination, Malfoy," Fred states as he walks out from where the stalls likely are. He's got a large grin equalling his brothers own as he spins about with his arms wide motioning for her to take it all in.

"What we have here is prime real estate for making and selling products." George clarifies for her, moving further into the space and leaning up against the broken sinks.

"A bathroom?" She asks, glancing about.

"A disused bathroom," Fred points out, "that no one, not even Filch or Mrs. Norris venture in here."

She eyes him a second before looking at the space in earnest, walking further in and peering about. She can see down by the stalls is the twins cauldron, currently bubbling away with whatever Fred was working on while George retrieved her. The sinks, in their lack of use, would be well enough to display items upon, and they could hide and store products and ingredients in the stalls themselves.

"So long as you've cleaned everything down." She relents as though with reluctance. The twins grin wide and she can't help but meet their enthusiasm. In truth it's a rather brilliant spot, out of the way so they can work in peace, but in a good enough place that people can come to them without much trouble.

She stands with the twins and glances about once more. It will definitely work for them.

* * *

Two weeks after Christmas holiday the twins and Cassiopeia officially start selling out of the abandoned bathroom on the seventh floor.

They're sly about it, only telling those they trust at first and then as the weeks go on letting word of mouth and general student solidarity and the wish for sweets and pranks between Hogsmeade trips to keep the business endeavor hidden from the faculty.

That and they take turns monitoring the map for any potential professors or Filch coming their way. It keeps them relatively out of trouble with their new business venture as the school year continues on.

Overall she's quite proud of their venture. And she enjoys the time spent with the twins because of it. Most evenings after dinner and before bed she finds herself hunched over a cauldron working on their next batch of products with Fred and George nearby, either selling to students who've found their way to the shop, or making their own batches of merchandise.

The twins still end up in detention as the months go on, as it seems impossible for them not to. But Cassiopeia is proud of her own avoidance of it for the entirety of the year, a first since starting Hogwarts that she's sure her parents will be relieved to hear about.

Draco, though, is not so lucky. She's shocked when she finds out he ended up with detention, a fact she's quick to tease him for the day he's scheduled to go out with Hagrid to the Forbidden Forest. When she'd learnt of it she found her way over during dinner and sat herself down on the bench beside him.

"Don't worry, Draco," she pats his head though he attempts to dodge out of the way, "the forest is actually quite fun for detention. What with all the fun creatures you can come across, oh and don't worry, it was just rumor that a student went missing once during a detention." He glares at her, though she easily notes the bit of fear when she adds, "at least… I think it was."

"Shut up, Peia," he finally snaps out, frowning down into his dinner.

"And don't worry about mother and father," she smirks, "maybe you'll get lucky and I'll end up in trouble soon so they don't have time to focus on you're delinquency, we've still got another month or so."

He huffs, and she reaches over once more and ruffles his hair causing him to scowl further though she stands and leaves him before he can snap at her once again.

* * *

The last bit of the school year ends with little fanfare, at least for Cassiopeia.

Harry Potter and the two others of his little trio apparently had a very eventful end of year. Though Cassiopeia knows only what the twins have raved about, all from their brothers apparent involvement. She also was entertained when the house cup was won from right under Slytherin's nose, a fact she's determined to joke about plenty around Draco all summer.

She personally is happy enough to end the year easily like she did. Her marks are excellent and she did after all succeed in going a whole year without getting caught for any trouble, which she was quite proud of. All while making a bit of coin selling knock off candies and prank toys, which she was also quite proud of.

Thus she's easily enjoying the ride home on the Hogwarts Express in her compartment with the twins. Lounged out along one of the benches, with her legs thrown over the pair of their laps and a mass of treats from the trolley strewn about them. She leans her own head back against the window, eyes closed as she listens contentedly to the twins go back and forth on plans for expanding business in the coming year.

"I don't know if we'd be able to get away with entirely remodeling that bathroom," she notes when Fred makes a comment about tearing out the stalls.

"Cass's right," George says, "that would probably be a bit too noticeable."

"That's a shame," Fred sighs, a bit dramatically.

"Besides," Cass peaks her eyes open, "the fact it's a bathroom adds to the fun of it, don't you think?"

"Yeah," Fred grins, "I mean who'd sell candy in a toilet?"

"Who'd buy candy in a toilet?" George laughs.

"Thankfully a good amount of students," Cass jokes.

Soon enough though the train pulls into platform nine-and-three-quarters, and she's trailing off the train behind them. She spots her parents down some ways, Draco already there and being fussed over by their mother. Lucius spots her and nods her to come but before she does she turns to the twins.

"See you soon," she smiles wide, "don't forget to write back."

"Of course Cass," George smirks.

"We'll have plenty to tell you, I'm sure, what with a whole load of candy's to test on our brothers."

"Good." She smiles and soon enough she's swept into a hug by the pair of them and laughing as she ruffles their red heads before heading away for a summer of lounging about and society events that she'll surely be dragged along to by her parents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! The first couple chapters of this are going to be a bit slower, mostly setting up Cass's character and relationships. But hopefully all still enjoyable! 
> 
> Thank you for the kudos and comments! I always appreciate hearing your thoughts on the story and character.


	4. Summer Letters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cassiopeia and the twins exchange letters over the summer break.

_Dear Fred & George_

_I am bored out of my mind. The last several days I have been going through robe fitting after robe fitting for an upcoming society event because according to my mother the ones I wore last year are entirely improper for this year._

_She’s right of course, they’re out of style and don’t fit properly any longer. But I still reserve the right to complain about the fact that for the last few days I’ve been a glorified pin cushion and statue while the seamstress from Twilfitt and Tattings works._

_I suppose the upside is new robes, and I don’t have to spend my day listening to Draco drone on about his school year or plans for being Slytherin’s new seeker come fall._

_Honestly, I mostly just miss fun. Enough so that I’m tempted to slip one of those nose-biting teacups I got at our last Zonkos trip into the cabinet to see one of my mother’s friends get bitten at tea on Sunday._

_Anyhow, my mother is calling me down for yet another look at fabrics. I do hope that your summer has started off more entertaining than mine._

_Desperately Seeking Distraction,_

_Cassiopeia Malfoy_

* * *

_To the ‘Bored out her Mind’ Witch,_

**_George and I have, indeed, started out summer off more entertaining with a trick that landed Percy headfirst in the pond at the Burrow._ **

_Of course that also means that Fred and I landed ourselves with with gnome duty for perhaps the rest of summer as punishment._

**_Not the worst punishment considering. It can be fun tossing the little things over the garden wall._ **

_Making a game of it. Certainly making it less boring than robe fittings. **And infinitely better than sunday tea with prissy pureblooded women.** And Pureblood Society dinners._

**_Which George and I are still awaiting an invitation to as we are, of course, fine Pureblooded Gentlemen and deserve to be treated as such._ **

_**And if we are not invited than we expect you to uphold our names in the company of you’re pureblooded associates by slipping these treats we’ve included with this letter in amongst the surely elaborate buffet or feast or whatever it is you rich-folk eat at those things.** _

_For testing purposes only of course, to be sure the dosages are all correct for selling in the fall._

_**Well, we must get back to chucking gnomes and pestering Percy**. We do hope you will write back with a thorough report of the success of our treats._

**_Your Fine Pureblooded Companions,_ **

_**Fred and** George Weasley _

* * *

_Dear George & Fred,_

_The treats were indeed a success. But also sadly I was not sneaky enough to get away with it, or perhaps I am simply the obvious culprit when it comes to the tying of tongues during a Pureblood Society dinner._

_Regardless, I write from the seclusion of my room for the last two weeks. I would have written sooner but one aspect of my punishment was that I could send no letters. A pity, as it likely would have helped the days pass._

_Though it wasn’t all wasted time spent in my room. I read through five whole books, and then reread two of them for clearer understanding. Sadly though that does mean that I no longer have any new muggle books to read for the summer as I’ve read through the ones I procured from Sadie. I’ve written her in hopes of pity, but alas I fear I’ll have to reread from my collection. Though, in honesty, that’s hardly a pity._

_Returning to the treats, as you did ask for a thorough report. I have included in the back of this letter a revised recipe for the tongue tying treats. I’ve adjusted some of the ratios and it should be more effective and better tasting all the same._

_I must go sort through my books now for my next read. Toss a gnome in my name._

_The Recently Released,_

_Cassiopeia Malfoy_

* * *

_To our dear co-conspirator,_

_**We are glad to hear the success of our treats.** And happy to tell you that the revised versions were quite good on our end, though again we have been stuck with more chores as a result. **Truly worth it though, and after Ron could speak he did tell us that they were rather good tasting, tongue-tying aside.**_

_Speaking of Ronnikins he’s been in sour mood the last few weeks, as it appears the boy-who-lived is also the boy-who-cannot-write-back. **Though Ron seems to think it is of no fault of Harry’s, which George and I are inclined to agree with.** And apparently Hermione has now written of her own concerns to Ron. _

_**Thus plans are in motion to discover the reasoning.** Quite fun and exciting plans in truth. Involving a bit of sneaking about, and a lot of trouble._

**_Also involving our father’s car._ **

_It’s all exciting things ahead for us in our summer. Though we feel for your plight of high society boredom and have included a book from our father’s muggle stash. **Something to do with why things don’t go floating all about or something. Though in truth we’re unsure, haven’t read the bloody thing ourselves.**_

**_Your Plotting Pals,_ **

_George and **Fred Weasley**_

* * *

_Dear Fred & George,_

_I have spent the last few weeks pouring over the book you sent me and I will say it is about why things don’t go floating, and it is actually very interesting. It’s called gravity, and technically it’s a theory, and it’s a force. Sort of like accio, the earth pulls things to it that are smaller than it._

_I won’t bore you though with a thorough description. Though I will ask that if your father does have any other books relating to muggle sciences, I would greatly appreciate you bringing along a few to Hogwarts for me._

_As for your ‘fun and exciting’ plans. I hope you are at least careful. Knowing the pair of you you’ll end up breaking the statute of secrecy and then I’ll have to suffer the school year without my 15% cut of profits from our business endeavor._

_Aside from all that, not much has occurred for me that is in any way exciting. I’ve mingled with the pureblood elite, and slipped a few new-recipe treats into Draco’s food (with similar success to your endeavor against Ron, though he did not give me a review afterwards which was quite rude of him). My father has been stressed it seems, though he acts aloof to it all, and my mother is taking that as reason to impose to Draco and I with the importance of behaving befitting our status._

_I look forward to returning to Hogwarts. Until then I can at least hope that perhaps we’ll spot each other in the crazed shopping at Diagon Alley after supply lists arrive._

_The Scientifically Intrigued,_

_Cassiopeia Malfoy_

* * *

**_To the only Malfoy worth a sickle,_ **

_**We wish to start this letter by stating that our father absolutely won that fight in Flourish and Blotts.** We understand if you feel the need to defend your own, but also we also understand that this letter will likely arrive with no time for your to write a rebuttal before catching the train. **And thus we get the last word, and the last word always wins.**_

_Like our father._

_**Now that that business is aside, we are more than ready to tell our tale of the rescue of one Harry James Potter.** Also known as the ‘boy-who-lived’. **Could also be called ‘boy-who-lived-with-the-worst-muggles-in-existence’.** Bloody folk kept him locked up, with bars upon his window. I **t was mental, and thus we feel little remorse even after the shouting our mother gave.** And care little about the risks we ran with the statute of secrecy while we flew a car outside a (barred) window in a muggle neighborhood. **Though we will point out that it was night and thus the risk was lowered.** And truthfully could we be blamed?_

**_I will reiterate the bars on window fact in case you think we could be blamed._ **

_We also look forward to returning to Hogwarts, and testing many a more product for our bathroom shop. **Plenty of recipes to try and improve**. Only a few days left before you’re pureblood-torture and boredom can end, **so try not to turn to the evil side in that time.**_

_Your favorite sons of a definite winner,_

_**Fred and** George Weasley_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> This was a fun chapter to write, so I hope you enjoyed it!


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